Soda for Food Stamps

In October, city and state officials proposed a two-year experiment to see if the prohibition would reduce obesity among people who buy their groceries with food stamps. Dr. Farley said that about 57 percent of adults in the city and 40 percent of the children in its public schools were overweight or obese, and that obesity was especially rampant in low-income neighborhoods. Limiting consumption of sodas and other drinks with high sugar content, he argued, could help reverse that trend.

You know what else would help reverse that trend? Reduce the dollar amount of the food stamps (or eliminate them entirely). Nothing like hunger to make the choice between soda and food easier to make. Clearly, if people are buying soda with food stamps (to the point that you think it's causing an obesity problem), they don't really need those food stamps, right?